Comb cleaning device



Dec. 14, 1954 NORMANDEAU ET AL 2,696,624

COMB CLEANING DEVICE Filed Dec. 6, 1950 IN V EN TOR.

ffrome iaZert Mrmanoeau & GILBERT ADAMEC A T TORNEY United States Patent Office I, 2,696,624 Patented Dec. 14, 1954 COMB CLEANING DEVICE Appiication December 6, 1950, Serial No. 199,458

3 Claims. (Cl. 1539) This invention relates to a comb cleaning device. It 1s an ob ect of the present invention to provide a 'hair comb cleaning device wherein upon the passing of a comb through the device brush elements are rotated to effect a quick and speedy cleaning action upon the comb teeth, the operation of the elements resulting from the engagement of the comb with operating parts or with the elements and from the sliding movement of the comb through the device.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a hair comb cleaning device wherein brush elements will be powered for rotation about vertical and horizontal axes and wherein certain of the brushes can be worked up and down along the teeth and in between the teeth to remove the dirt therefrom.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a hair comb cleaning device which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture,. has a minimum number of parts, automatic in operation, compact and efi'icient in use.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary and perspective view of a form of the device wherein vertical and movable horizontal brush elements are used and powered by a driving gear mechanism.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on line 99 of Fig. 1 and of the reversible jack screw.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the jack screw follower.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the form of the invention shown in Fig. l, with casing in place.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, there is shown a form of the invention wherein brush elements are positively driven as the comb is moved through the device. This is effected through a gear mechanism to be presently described. According to this form of the invention there is provided a casing 25 on which there is;

mounted two vertically extending shafts 26 and 27. The shaft 26 has a head 28 fixed thereto and the shaft 27 has a rotatable head 29. As the comb, as indicated at 31, passes between the heads 28 and 29, the shaft 26 is driven. The lower end of the shaft is journalled in the bottom of the casing 25 and has a gear 32 thereon that meshes with idler gear 33. The gear 33 in turn meshes with a gear 34 fixed to a vertically extending shaft 35 that carries brush 36 so that rotation of brush 36 will be positively effected. The brush 36 lies adjacent to a vertically extending brush 37 mounted on a shaft 38 and is adapted to engage with the opposite sides of the comb from which the brush 36 engages. The vertically extending brush 37 is positively rotated through the gear train consisting of idler gear 46, meshing with gear 34 of shaft 35, gear 45 on shaft 44, meshing with idler 46 and with gear 58 on shaft 57, and idler gear 80 meshing with gear 58 and with gear 81 on shaft 38 on which brush 37 is mounted, as shown in Fig. 1.

In order that a cleaning action can be eifected with horizontally extending brushes operating on the opposite sides of the comb, a carriage 41 having horizontal brushes 42 and 43 is provided.

In order to effect the positive driving of the brushes 42 and 43 and the simultaneous vertical up and down movement of the carriage 41 with the brush elements, a reversible jack screw 44 is provided. This jack screw is mounted for rotation in the casing 25 and has a gear 45 that meshes with an idler gear 46 which in turn receives its power from the gear 34 of the vertically extending brush 36.

The carriage 41 has a vertically extending portion 47 for receiving the reversible jack screw 44 and on which is rested a bevel gear 43 having a cam follower arrangement 49 comprising an elongated part 51 that enters cross grooves 52. The bevel gear 48 is held against displacement by a projection 52 of the carriage frame. The brushes 42 and 43 are respectively fixed to rotatable shafts 53 and 54 having respectively bevel gears 55 and 56. The bevel gear 55 meshes with the bevel gear 48 to effect driving action of the brush 42. A shaft 57 is journalled in the frame 25 and has a gear 58 meshing with the gear 45 so that the shaft 57 can be driven in an opposite direction from that in which the jack screw is rotated. On the upper end of the shaft 57 is a bevel gear 60 that meshes with gear 56 to rotate the brush element 43. The brush elements 42 and 43 will accordingly be driven in opposite directions and toward one another to effect a cleaning action in a vertical direction between the teeth of the comb 31. By virtue of the double groove jack screw 44, the carriage41 will be moved up and down simultaneously with the rotation of the brush elements 42 and 43 so as to provide a sweeping action upon the teeth of the comb 31 and to carry the dirt loosened by the brush elements downwardly and over the ends of the teeth of the comb. It will be apparent that simultaneously as the vertical brushes 36 and 37 are rotated, that there is an action upon the comb with the horizontal brushes 42 and 43. These brushes are posiively driven through the arrangement of the gears upon the casing 25. The carriage 41 is moved up and down by the reversible jackscrew 44 engaging the cam follower 51. linear travel of the carriage by virtue of the gear 48 having the cam follower 51 but will cause rotation of the gear 48 which meshes with gear 55 of brush 42. The" gear 60 for driving brush 43 is similarly contained upon the carriage 41 and will travel up and down therewith to drive the brush gear 56. The shaft 57 has a keyway and the gear will have a projection extendible into the gear 64 at the different positions of the brush carriage 66 It will be seen that with this comb cleaning device, dirt will be separated from the comb and can be collected in the bottom of the casing where it can be readily dumped. The parts of this device can be made of plastic and the brush elements of nylon and thereby the device can be used upon a comb which has been wet with warm water without injury to the parts or the same being rusted. Likewise the parts need not be effected by soap. It will be seen that in a quick manner a comb can be cleaned. By one movement in one direction through the device a cleaning action is effected from the one direction and when the comb is moved in the opposite direction a final cleaning action can be had. If necessary, repeated movements of the comb through the device can be made.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A comb cleaning device. comprising a casing, a brush frame, opposing horizontally-extending brush elements respectively mounted on said brush frame for rotation with respect thereto, operating elements adapted to be operated by the longitudinal movement of the comb through the casing and driving mechanism extending between the operating elements and the horizontally extending brushes to effect positive rotation of the same, said horizontally extending brushes being spaced to receive the comb as the same is passed through the casing whereby to clean and remove dirt from the same and said drive mechanism including means engageable with Not only will the jackscrew cause the 3 the brush frame for effecting up and down vertical movement of the brush frame and the brushes on the comb simultaneously with the rotation thereof.

2; A comb cleaning device comprising a casing, a carrier frame for brush elements, horizontal brush elements rotatably mounted on said carrier frame, operating elements engageable by a comb and adapted to be turned as the comb is passed through the casing, said operating elements engageable with the comb side faces respectively, vertically extending shafts rotatably mounted in said casing, one of said shafts being of the reversible jack screw type, said shafts supporting said brush carrier frame, driving gears extending between the shafts and the brush elements to positively rotate the same,

' driving connections extending between the operating elements and the vertically extending drive shafts, said frame having a follower element operable in the grooves of the reversible jack screw shaft whereby automatically as the horizontal brushes are rotated the carrier supporting them will be reciprocated up and down over the comb teeth.

3. A comb cleaning device comprising a casing, a carrier frame for brush elements, horizontal brush elements rotatably mounted on said carrier frame, operating elements engageable by a comb and adapted to be turned as the comb is passed through the casing, said operating elements engageable with the comb side faces respectively, vertically extending shafts rotatably mounted in said casing, one of said shafts being of the reversible jack screw type, said shafts supporting said brush carrier frame, driving gears extending between the shafts and the brush elements to positively rotate the same, driving connections extending between the operating elements and the vertically extending drive shafts, said frame having a follower element operable in the grooves of the reversible jack screw shaft whereby automatically as the horizontal brushes are rotated the carrier supporting them will be reciprocated up and down over the comb teeth and vertically extending brush elements mounted in the casing for rotation and said driving connections between the operating elements and the vertically extending shafts for driving the horizontal brushes including driving connections with the vertically extending brushes whereby positive operation of both the horizontally extending and the vertically extending brushes is effected by the passage of the comb through the casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 460,335 Gilman Sept. 29, 1891 1,254,532 Paul Jan. 22, 1918 1,921,002 Ozabal Aug. 8, 1933 2,082,991 Turco June 8, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 252,022 Switzerland Sept. 16, 1948 341,405 Italy June 24, 1936 

